Professor Markku Kulmala, Director, Atmospheric Sciences Division, University of Helsinki

Professor Kulmala’s research focus is on atmospheric aerosol science and biosphere-aerosol-cloud-climate interactions. His main scientific goal has been to reduce scientific uncertainties concerning global climate change issues, particularly those related to aerosols and clouds.

Kulmala is active in terms of publications, acquisition of research funding, co-ordination of research projects, establishment of infrastructure (measurement stations), education, and international networking. He has published over 750 original research papers (fist in citation rankings in geosciences), principal investigator or coordinator in more than 40 EU/Nordic projects, he has supervised over 60 PhD students, 13 of them are presently professors. 

Markku Kulmala leads the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence in Atmospheric Science – From Molecular and Biological processes to the Global Climate (ATM), which includes 280 scientists from physics, meteorology, chemistry, forest sciences and biology. He also leads the Division of Atmospheric Sciences in the Department of Physics, University of Helsinki.  

He is chair of the Finnish National Committee for Future Earth, and also heads Future Earth’s   European alliance of national committees, which examine European research priorities and promotes European-level stakeholder engagement.  

Kulmala leads the Pan Eurasian Experiment (PEEX), an international cooperative research program between Finland, several other European countries, Russia, and China, that assesses global change in arctic and boreal regions of northern Eurasia, and where IIASA is collaborating as well, in addition to active links with the IIASA Arctic Futures Initiative. The backbone of PEEX, Kulmala’s and his team’s work is a comprehensive measurement station network, importantly based on three long-term SMEAR (Stations for Measuring the forest Ecosystem – Atmosphere Relationships) field stations in Finland, with the aim to improve comprehensive continuous measurement networks globally.

Kulmala lead the European Integrated project on Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality Interactions (EUCAARI), in which IIASA was a partner. Kulmala is extending his research interests into social sciences, socio-economics as well, especially in relation to the changes of the boreal and arctic areas and their societies.

NOTE: The current information about the person might have changed since he/she has been awarded the Distinguished Visiting Fellow award.

Last edited: 18 March 2019